Nothing fancy here, just tried and true, old fashioned, family style recipes from my kitchen in Alaska.

Monday, October 10, 2016

EASY NO KNEAD ENGLISH MUFFINS

This recipe is SO easy that it would make a great weekend cooking project for that kid in the family that is a "wanna-be" chef. There are several steps, but they are all EASY.

You will need:2 cups all purpose flour (divided)1 tablespoon sugar1 tablespoon vegetable oil1 1/3 cup milk 2 teaspoons KOSHER salt(kosher measures different than table salt)1 envelope of yeastyellow corn meal 6 large mason jar ringsIn a large bowl, mix:1 cup all purpose flour (you'll use other cup later)1 tablespoon sugar2 teaspoons kosher salt (not regular salt)1 envelope yeast (I buy it in bulk, so I use 1 tablespoon)In a smaller, microwave safe bowl, mix:1 1/3 cups milk1 tablespoon vegetable oil Microwave the milk-oil for 1 minute. Take it out of the microwave and stir it, then test it with your finger. It should feel nice and warm, but NOT hot (I call it baby bottle warm).Stir the milk-oil into the dry mixture, until everything is very well mixed, then addONE MORE cup of flour and stir until WELLmixed. Cover the bowl and set it in a warm part of your kitchen for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, it will look puffy like this:

Stir the air out of the dough (it will be very sticky). Preheat your dry (no grease) electric fry pan to 250°. Now here is a hint: everyone's fry pans cook at different rates, so cook ONE "test muffin" to see if you need to turn your heat up a little or down a little. You want the muffin to look nice and golden when you flip it over after 5 minutes, like this:

My electric fry pan is perfect at 250°.

Now you are ready to make the rest of the muffins. Spray the inside of the jar rings with vegetable spray (these are going to be your English muffin molds). Set them on your PRE-HEATED dry electric fry pan and sprinkle a little corn meal in the circle before you put the dough in.Spoon batter into ring molds (it's pretty thick and sticky at this stage). I used about 1 1/4 large ice cream scoops of dough for each muffin.When all 6 rings have dough in in them, put a lid on the fry pan, but cock it sideways so that it doesn't cover the whole pan. If your fry pan doesn't have a lid, you can cover it with a cookie sheet, but make sure the cookie sheet doesn't touch the muffins.Cook at 250° for five minutes, then (before you flip it over) sprinkle a little corn meal onto the top of the muffin and then GENTLY flip it over (ring and all).NOTE: It isn't absolutely necessary, but a Teflon pan works great for these muffins.

Put the lid back on the pan (leaving it open a little) and cook for another five minutes. Remove from rings (they slide right out) and put the muffin on a baking rack to cool.

Cool completely, then split them open with a fork. To do this, insert the fork into the side of the muffin, half way between top and bottom. Twist the fork JUST A LITTLE, then remove it. Repeat this all the way around the muffin. When you get back to the place where you started, the muffin should just come apart. Just make sure you do this AFTER the muffin is completely cooled.To serve, toast in toaster or under broiler until light golden.If you don't have mason jar lids, you can use anything (that can withstand heat) that is about the same size.

5 comments:

Looks lovely! I'm a hobbyist bread maker, and usually only make English muffins when I'm left with excess sourdough starter that I don't have the heart to throw it away. Yeasted English muffins are also delicious, however and I love your use of the canning rings! I'm sure they were absolutely delicious, but I'd love to offer a tip--if you mix up the batter the night before and let them rise in the fridge overnight, the flavor goes from "wonderful" to "unbelievable". A cold fermentation makes a huge difference, without any effort at all. Give it a try sometime!

To Ceci: I've done what you call cold fermentation for 30+ years when I make my sourdough waffles and pancakes (check out my recipe), except I let the batter sit at ROOM TEMPERATURE for 2 to 4 days before I bake with it. You are right, the taste is fantastic. Coleen